


Told You You'd Kill It

by sidebysidewithafriend



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Established Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Established Relationship, Established Romione, F/M, Fluff, Supportive Ron Weasley, lots of fluff, romione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23605570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidebysidewithafriend/pseuds/sidebysidewithafriend
Summary: Hermione is stressed about her upcoming history presentation; Ron provides his usual comforting presence. And cookies.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	Told You You'd Kill It

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts from a post titled “cute couple things i’ve seen on campus this semester that make me want a stupid boyfriend” by jeongukk on Tumblr
> 
> “girl and guy were sitting on the same chair with the guy behind her only he was hugging her waist and fast asleep on her shoulder while she was working on her computer” and “in the hallway i watched this girl run up to her bf and he gives her the biggest hug and goes “see told you you’d kill your presentation” then kisses her forehead”

“Ugh.” Ron shoved his books to one side and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all different directions. Hermione hid a smile as Ron drew his hands inside his jumper sleeves.

Through a yawn, he continued, “I’m done. I’m so tired.” Probably from his basketball training, but schoolwork was also a struggle for him, she knew. And they’d been studying in the library for several hours now. No wonder he was exhausted. 

She glanced at the document on her laptop. “I’m nearly done. Do you mind if we stay here a little longer?” 

Ron yawned again. “Sure thing, ‘Mione.” He set both hands on the table and stayed there for a second, then pushed his chair backwards and hauled himself to standing. “On one condition.” 

“What’s that?” 

He walked around to the other side of the table. “Can you stand up for a sec?” 

She wasn’t quite sure what he had in mind, but he was hard to say no to like this, all sleepy and soft. So she stood up and he planted himself in the chair. Realising his meaning, she smiled. 

“This way you can work on your presentation, and I can hug you,” he explained. 

She settled herself on his lap. His arms went around her waist from behind, sending a delightful shiver up her spine. She adjusted the position of her laptop and set to typing again. Her presentation was still a week away, but it was an important one. 

Ron lifted an arm from around her. She hadn’t realised how warm his embrace was until his arm had moved, leaving her waist oddly cold. With his now-free hand, he started to rub slow circles between her shoulder blades, and she turned her head slightly as though to try and see what he was doing. 

“You’re stressed, ‘Mione. You’re all tense,” he said. “What’s going on?” 

“This presentation is big. I  _ have _ to get this script right.” She hoped he’d understand. His attitude towards such things was a little more blase, but… 

“You’re going to kill it.” His hand kept tracing those gentle circles on her back. “I know you will. You’re amazing at history.” 

Hopefully. Hopefully she could convince the moderating teacher of that, too. 

Ron returned his arm to her waist, locking his fingers in front of her. “How much left to write?” 

“A couple of paragraphs.” She knew it, but glanced at her outline just to be sure. “Then a conclusion, and then I’ll be done.” 

“Ok. Smash out those paragraphs. Kick their butts. Whatever. You got this.” He let out another barely stifled yawn. 

“I’ll try to be quick.” She smiled. 

Ron leant his head against her shoulder and shifted a little, settling into a more comfortable position. He was so warm, and she almost felt like she was disappearing into his long arms. Not that she minded. Having him right there at her back loosened some of her tense muscles. His was a solid, comforting presence. She let go of her clenched jaw—he was always reminding her not to do that—and gave her laptop a determined stare. These last two paragraphs would be manageable. And they would be good. 

He’d started snoring, a soft rumble that she both heard and felt. Normally she complained about any noise while she was trying to study—Ron could definitely attest to that statement—but somehow this sound was cosy, almost homely. In the otherwise silent library, just behind his snoring, she could hear his heartbeat too, a steady pulse against her back. 

Trying not to move too much, she typed a sentence, erased two words, added a clause, wrote another sentence. Then another. And another. 

~ 

He ran a hand through his hair and realised he hadn’t properly cleaned up after that flour bag had exploded in his face. Leaving food tech class messy was pretty normal, but still. He swiped at it again and returned his attention to the numbers on the classroom doors. Hermione was giving her presentation in D34, he knew, but he hadn’t been in this part of the school very much, and he couldn’t see D34. D12, 13, and 14, yes, but no D34. He could picture her, 5’2” of passion and brains as she lectured the class on African history. That was her favourite part of the class, so of course she’d chosen it for her presentation. He’d seen her in the corridor briefly this morning and she’d been visibly stressed; some of her fingernails had borne chewed edges, and she hadn’t been able to stand still. The topic meant a lot to her, he knew. But he also knew that she was going to kill it; she could lecture on a subject with a single-minded drive that he found both terrifying and kind of hot. And she knew her material back to front. She knew everything back to front. When he’d called her the other night she said she’d been practising with her parents and another friend, and that she hoped it was enough. He knew it would be. He’d heard the speech too, and it was awesome. The teachers were going to love it. 

“Ron!” The voice came from behind him and he spun around. Hermione was pelting up the corridor towards him, her curly hair flying wildly out behind her. Most importantly, she was smiling broadly, and he grinned too. Her expression could only mean one thing. 

When she reached him, he swept her into a hug so excitedly he lifted her off her feet. Laughing, she clung to his shoulders. 

“See,” he told her, still holding her firmly around the waist, “told you you’d kill it.” 

“One of the teachers, he said some really nice stuff to me on my way out,” she said. “And all the class seemed to like it and I can’t be a hundred percent sure but I think that has to mean—” 

“That you did an amazing job? Yes.” He set her down. “I knew that already. Because you’re amazing and you’re super smart.” 

Her eyes sparkled. “Thanks. I guess I found it hard to believe until I’d done it. I was a bit stressed.” 

“Really?” He straightened her uniform collar. “I had no idea.” 

She laughed. “Sorry. I hope I didn’t drive you too crazy.” 

“Nope. You’re smart and you want to do well. Don’t ever dumb yourself down for me. I love you as you are.” He bent down and kissed her forehead. “I love you, ‘Mione. Even when you’re stressed and a little out of it.” 

“I love you too.” She threw her arms around his waist. “Thanks for believing in me.” 

He grinned. “I know how absolutely incredible you are. Even when you forget.” 

She pulled back a little and, with a small smile, said, “You have chocolate on your nose.” 

“Whoops. Food tech.” He rubbed his nose. 

“Here, let me.” 

He crouched obligingly down and let her clean the chocolate off. “We made cookies. You want one? They’re reserved only for people who killed their presentations.” He swung his bag off his shoulder and rummaged in it for the warm box. 

Hermione took two; she shoved one right into her mouth and let out a small sigh of happiness. “These are amazing,” she said, once she’d swallowed. “Thank you.” 

He also happened to know that sometimes when she got stressed her appetite disappeared, so he always tried to bring her food after the stressful event. It was important to make sure she ate enough. “I was wondering if you wanted to take this afternoon off studying,” he suggested. “Go see a movie?” 

“Little Women?” Her eyes lit up. She’d wanted to see that movie for weeks, but hadn’t found the time or the headspace. 

He grinned. “Yep. I got us tickets.” 

She opened her mouth, looking mildly conflicted. 

He cut her off. “No studying this afternoon. You’ve earned an afternoon off.” 

“I suppose there were only one or two things I was going to do today…” she admitted. 

“Do ‘em tomorrow. Nothing’s due for like a month, right?” 

She smiled. “No. No due dates coming up soon.” He might not have had her head for memorising historical dates, but he knew her assessment calendar as well as he knew his own. Possibly better. It was important that he be able to plan his cookie baking. 

He returned his bag to his shoulder and jokingly offered her his arm. “Shall we?” 

“Where are we going?” 

“Shopping centre where the bus stops.” 

She nodded and slipped her hand into his. “Thank you. Again.” 

He was going to suggest she could call it repayment for helping him with his English a couple of weeks ago, but really he was just as excited about this as she was. Spending time with his incredible girlfriend was his favourite thing to do. 


End file.
